New bill proposes analog TV warning

A few politicians hope to pass a bill that will require analog television sets …

Analog-only television sets may soon be required to carry a new warning label if a new bill passes the House of Representatives, but it won't be to warn about violent, adult, or controversial TV content. US Representatives Joe Barton (R-Texas), Dennis Hastert (R-Illinois), and Fred Upton (R-Michigan) are proposing a bill that will require any remaining analog TV sets to come with a warning label indicating that it will need a converter box come February 2009.

"This TV has only analog broadcast tuner and will require a converter box after Feb. 17, 2009, to receive over-the-air broadcasts," the label would read. This is, of course, in reference to the legislation saying that television broadcasters will be required to stop broadcasting analog signal and go digital-only by early 2009. Consumers who are still hanging onto their old, antiquated analog sets will be required to install a digital-to-analog converter in order to continue receiving broadcasts. Or they could just stop being cheap (like me) and buy a new TV.

Ars Technica's warning label mockup

It wouldn't even have to be a new new TV, either. The FCC has already been cracking down on manufacturers to ensure that their TV sets have been digital-ready for a couple of years now—any large TV (36"+) bought since July 2005, medium-sized TV (25-36") bought since March 2006, and smallscreen TVs (13+) as well as VCRs bought after March of this year are required by the FCC to be digital-ready. The FCC's Dan Rumelt confirmed to Ars that all TVs are required by the FCC to have a digital tuner after this March.

While that may have been enough time for many of us young, bleeding-edge, early adopters to buy a new DTV, folks like our parents and grandparents are likely to not even be aware of the upcoming flipping of the switch. The National Association of Broadcasters endorsed the bill, telling TV Week, "As we draw nearer to February 2009, we welcome all pro-consumer initiatives designed to positively educate America on the transition from analog to digital television."

The bill will also require cable and satellite providers to notify customers of the upcoming transition on their monthly bills. Additionally, the bill would require the FCC to create a consumer outreach campaign, update the government regularly on the number of customers who have redeemed coupons for analog-to-digital converters, and require service providers to file regular reports about their consumer education efforts. The government hopes that these methods will get the attention of a few technologically-"content" customers here and there to make sure we all make the leap from analog to digital.